Clothes Make the Man
by original.reader
Summary: They say that what you wear is a reflection of who you are. When Kairi finds something weird in Sora's clothes Sora and Kairi realize who they are to each other. Post KH2, rated T for strong language and some mild adult themes.


What time is it?

Story Time.

* * *

It was like any other day on Destiny Islands: sun was shining, the occasional cloud in the distance, blue skies, and the perfect breeze every now and again. And just like every perfect setting there is a perfect couple.

You guessed it: Sora and Kairi.

Sora is the typical island teenager, almost six feet tall, BIG bushy brown hair, and blue eyes that have started many a cat fight at school. (Cat fights are sexy at first, but MAN they get vicious.) He can skateboard, he can play the guitar, he can **attempt** to sing, and has fallen "head-over-tits" for: Kairi.

Kairi is what most people would call "everything they would ever wish for in a woman". She has dark red hair, deep violet eyes, a face that shows her youth through her boundless beauty, perfectly proportional in every way, shape, and form, and she is jonesin' for some blue-eyed brunette lovin'.

But as it is, they were completely oblivious for their feelings for each other. They've been best friends since they met all those years ago and "best friends" now.

Sora likes Kairi and Kairi likes Sora.

He almost died for her when the Heartless attacked the first time and risked never seeing light again just to see her again.  
She lived within him throughout his first journey and waited for him then fought with him in his second.

They are, for lack of a better term, perfect for each other.

But they just couldn't see it until Kairi found **it**. But more on that later.

* * *

Sora couldn't deny it. He liked Kairi. But really, REALLY, liked her. Like a "like-like-LIKE" type of deal. So he talked with his best friend Riku about the whole situation.

Now Riku was a piece of work. You would think someone who spent that much time the darkness would come out a little less, oh I don't know, playboy-ish? Standing three inches over six feet; white hair that framed his face just enough so he can look older than he really is; and a dark demeanor that can be switched off at will and used to elicit a "ohhhh, he is SO MYSTERIOUS! I LOVE IT!" from any girl that passes by; Riku really is one of a kind.

"Dude, Riku. I have a confession to make," Sora brought up one day while talking with his lady-killing best friend.

Riku interrupted in an overly feminine voice: "'I have fallen head-over-tits for Kairi but I don't know what to do anymore!' Am I right Sora?"

"What? No, it's not like that," Sora replied only to get an exasperated sigh from Riku. "OKAY, so it is. But really, what do I do?"

"First, I have to know how badly you've got it."

"Got what?" Sora replied, albeit from Riku's point of view, rather stupidly.

"Arrgh. Okay, how do you feel around Kairi? Like when she walks by, or talks, or-" but Riku was cut off.

"Whenever I see her in front of my house waiting to go to school with me, it's like I just woke up and realized I'm outside naked." Sora dreamed.

"Sora, you're sounding a bit crazy." Riku said warily.

"I can't explain it, I get nervous around her to the point where I'm tempted to run away just so I won't act like an idiot around her ('Yeah, too much of an idiot' Riku remarked at this). I get so restless around her it's like I'm going to explode because I'm so worked up but at the same time it's like I can't even move because she took my breath away."

"Oh, I see now," Riku began, "Sora, you're in lov-"

"When she talks it's like you've just been cured from deafness," Sora was on a roll.

"Sora, I don't think you can exactly be 'cured' from deafne-" Riku was cut off again.

"Her laugh is like an angel's. It's sweet and wonderful and I-"

"SORA JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP. YOU'VE FALLEN IN LOVE. HARD. YOU'VE FALLEN VERY FAR." Riku exclaimed. "And trust me, with a girl like Kairi, it's a good thing."

* * *

Speaking of a Kairi, she was with her long time friend and gossip treasure trove Selphie. She came to a realization a little while ago and wanted SOMEone, ANYone, anyTHING to talk to.

But Selphie was something special. A small, petite girl with long brown hair and a green eye for gossip and fashion, Selphie was something of a last resort when it came to matters of the heart, but Kairi knew there was no one better to talk to.

"Hey Selph?" Kairi asked to catch the attention of her attention-deficit friend.

"Oh, yeah Kai?" the bubbly one asked in a reply.

"Um, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure what's up?"

"I don't know how to say it but I'm-"

"Madly in love with blue-eyed brunette and in dire need of help from the most beautiful and smartest girl on Destiny Islands? Well don't worry I'm here to help!"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'madly-in-love' just I've been thinking about Sora recently and all that he's done for me. He's saved me - twice. He's always been there for me. He buys me things that I don't think I need but always make me smile. He shows up at my door with sea-salt ice cream whenever I'm feeling sad and I don't even have to tell him I'm feeling sad. He just knows. And this one time, he bought me purple eyeliner and mascara! And not the cheap ones either, he walked into the most expensive store on the islands filled with middle-aged women and walked out with make-up! Who does that?"

"Obviously him, but tell me. After all that, how does that make you feel?" Selphine asked with an expectant nod.

"I-I think falling for him," Kairi stuttered with a blush.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Selphie retorted. "Don't you know? The only time you know if you're falling for a guy, especially a guy like Sora, is if you've **already** fallen for him."

* * *

So Sora was on his way to Kairi's house on this already described perfect day. And Sora had a plan.

Okay, so Sora had Riku's plan but hey, who's counting?

Sora found all the synthesising items somewhere in his room that he collected from his numerous travels and took all of them to the nearest moogle shop. He had to pay the freaking flying stuffed toy extra just to make it.

_'Oh, this is really difficult kupo! We have to charge you for service too kupo!'_ Sora remembered as he felt a 3000 munny hole make his wallet seem just a bit lighter.

But she was worth it. Sora knew that today was the day. He was going to use Riku's plan and confess everything that he felt to Kairi just as soon as he felt ready.

He had the "plan" in his jacket and he was on his way to Kairi's.

_Wait, how am I supposed to confess to a girl in the first place?_ Sora thought to himself, but before he could properly answer himself. He was at Kairi's door and she already opened it.

"Hey!" she exclaimed with a happy hug.

"H-hey to you too!" he managed with a stain of crimson on his cheeks.

* * *

The two unwitting lovebirds were just hanging out as usual in Kairi's backyard. Just sitting on the porch-swing and talking for hours on end about who knows what. Kairi loving every minute, and Sora waiting for the perfect moment.

-In the beginning-

"Nope, there is no chance that 'Simple and Clean' is better than 'Sanctuary'. It's just the truth."

-30 minutes later-

"Have you ever tried sucking the gas out of a can of whipped cream?"

-A while after-

"I was wondering, why do people like butts?"

-Some time later-

"Two guys and a dog walk into a bar. 'Ouch,' 'Ouch,' 'Woof.'"

-An hour later-

"I wonder how Roxas and Namine are doing?"

-And then finally-

Kairi was sitting next to Sora with her head on his shoulder when she found something in his clothes.

"Hey, what's this?" she asked.

"What? Oh that thing? It's nothing," he replied.

"What happens if I do this then?" she questioned mischievously as she activated what she found.

Suddenly a bright red light and what seemed like a invisible wall forced its way from Sora's clothes and Kairi was blown a few feet away and landed on the concrete.

"Ow. What the hell Sor-wha?"

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sora's clothes were red and he stood with his shoulders broader and back straighter than usual. But just as soon as Sora saw what had happened he rushed to Kairi's side and picked her up.

Bridal style.

Suffice to say: Kairi liked it. He felt much more forceful this way. She always knew he was strong, but the "regular" Sora was always gentle around her. She liked the fact that he was careful around her. Don't get her wrong, it was one of the many reasons she lov-I MEAN **liked** him; but this was a new experience. She could feel his strong arms around her as he held her just tight enough so she felt secure. If you wanted proof that she was enjoying this you could note that her face was of similar tint to the jacket that caused all this and consequently stuffed her face into it to hide her blush.

_I could get used to getting hurt if it meant this is the treatment, _she thought to herself.

"Kairi I am so sorry," Sora began to apologize, "it was a defensive reaction. I didn't know you were going to do that. It took me by surprise and everything happened before I knew what was going on."

"Sora, it's okay. I've taken a few bumps and bruises before. I'm a tough girl, remember?"

"Yeah, I distinctly remember getting a few bruises myself from a certain redhead."

"You deserved it! You had my favorite lucky charm for who knows how long!" She was just about to give him another "battle scar" when she winced and held her arm.

"Okay! Okay, fine I deserve it, just let me take care of that," he said as he reached inside of his jacked again. This however had Kairi backing up a bit, but Sora (once again before he knew what he what was going on) reached out and grabbed her hand.

"It's okay, I know what I'm doing," Sora reassured her. After he said this however he looked at the hand he held and realized he was still holding it. He was just as quick to release the maiden's hand as blood rushed to his head.

He activated his clothes as they _very calmly_ transformed from fiery red to a calm and serene blue.

"Now, let me see that arm," the new, blue Sora commanded.

Kairi willingly let him observe her wounded arm and noted again that Sora felt **different**. Not that she minded anyway. The last Sora was strong and forceful which she liked more than she was willing to admit. This Sora was graceful and smart and just seemed wiser. It was weird seeing the normally aloof and goofy brunette act so serious. It was...

cute.

He took one good final look at her arm and said with a confident sigh, "You scraped your palm and sprained your wrist, but I've got it." He grasped her wounded hand with his and sandwiched it between his two hands, much to her delight.

"Cure," and with that a green light warmed up her hand and she felt no more pain.

"Wow," she remarked, "thank you."

"No problem," he said with his signature classy smile.

"So, what else can you turn into?" she asked.

"Well, I've got a couple other things, like one that's the two you've already seen combined. Another one that's even stronger. And uh a..." Sora faded out on the last description.

"A what?" Kairi questioned.

"Nothing important just some things Donald, Goofy, and I had to improvise on when we went to different worlds."

"Like..?"

"A vampire_merman_and_lion_," Sora said as quickly as possible.

"Did you say vampire, merman, and lion?" Kairi asked with bright eyes.

"Yes," he sighed.

"I wanna see!" she squealed as she reached for his clothes once again.

But he was faster than her and grabbed her hand before she could make him transform once again. "Wait, you can only pick one. These clothes are getting a bit worn with all the transforming today." To tell the truth he just didn't want her to see that **thing**.

"Aww, okay then. Fine," she puppy dog pouted. At the sight of this, Sora almost let her see all three. Almost.

_Hmm_ she thought_ which to pick? Vampires sound kind of weird right now and I don't really know if Sora can breath as a mermaid, er, merMAN. So I guess that just leaves..._

"The lion!"

And then Sora once again let his clothes transform him, but this time with a much different result. He was once again the dark haired and smaller than average lion.

"Wow Sora," Kairi looked on with amazement. "You look so CUTE!" she squealed/exclaimed and tackled the four legged and really furry Sora.

So they stayed like this for a while, Kairi almost squeezing the life out of lion Sora but making it up to him by rubbing his fuzzy white chin and scratching him behind the ears on that one spot that just felt really good.

After a while Sora, like all cats, fell asleep on Kairi's lap with Kairi absentmindedly petting the big cat. But then a thought came to her and she found that she was arguing with herself.

_You know Sora's really hot right? _the voice asked

_I wouldn't say hot, but..._ Kairi attempted to reason back.

_No, you would say hot._

_Good looking?_

_Hot._

_Handsome?_

_Hot._

_Cute?_

_Okay fine, he's not "hot"._

_Thank you._

_He's downright SEXY._

_ALRIGHT HE'S HOT! WHAT DO YOU WANT?_

_Well, you know how good looking he is, right? Imagine him as a vampire._

_WHAT?_

_You know that when the whole island was in a "vampires are hot" fad, you had to have been a little bit curious to what it was like._

_What do you mean "what it was like"?_

_What it was like to _**y'know**_ a vampire._

_To _**what**_ a vampire?_

_Oh, **you know.**_

_No **I don't**._

_Well, you wanna try it anyway. So go for it. He's sleeping right now and can't stop you._

And so the temptation crept upon her like a shadow. All she had to do was change him one more time and she had a bone-fide smexy vampire at her fingertips! How could she resist? She could just reach over and then...

She couldn't. She just couldn't! Sora had said, only one more time. So that was it. The cute lion was the last one before Sora changed back.

But it was a VAMPIRE!

She fell to temptation and had to see what Sora was like as a vampire.

But just as he changed she was once again pushed back by the familiar force, however this time by a wave of darkness.

"Ouch. What happened Sor-uh..?"

This time, instead of the boy of her dreams whisking her up in his strong arms to carry her off to his vampire coven she saw a black and dark creature with yellow eyes crawling on the ground.

Crawling towards her.

Oh shit.

This thing saw her and before she could even scream it had her up against the wall both hands firmly in its grasp above her head.

"S-so-r-ra?"

"**n**_O_. **n_O_**t **s**O**_rA_**. **_mU_**c_h_ b_Et_t**Er**!" the creature hissed.

The creature held up both her hands with only one hand and let the other roam her body.

"N-no! S-stop! Please!" Kairi pleaded trying to look away.

"_**I**_ t**hIn****_k_** s_hE_ **lI**_**kE**_s _I**t**_! s**hE** _**l**__**IkE**_**s** _**O**_Ur t_OU_**ch**!"

"N-never!"

But before the creature could do anymore damage a flash of white appeared out of nowhere and Kairi felt her hand felt her hands released as she fell to the ground. What she saw next was something she didn't expect.

"Sora?"

The blond boy who fought off the dark creature with two keyblades turned around to look at the girl who he just rescued.

"Not exactly," he quickly said as he went back to battle the monster.

"Roxas!" Kairi exclaimed.

"The one and only at your service," Roxas replied with a smile. "I'll be right back."

And with that he turned around just in time to parry an attack. And for a second it seemed as if Roxas was going to win, but Kairi noticed he was steadily being pushed back.

But before the shadow creature could push its attack any further, a golden and (much to Kairi's embarrassment) very flowery keyblade struck the creature on the head and it was painfully knocked out.

"Y'know," Kairi noticed, "for my rescuer and nobody of the keyblade master you really do kind of suck at fighting."

"Shut up! I was trying to **not** kill your boyfriend over there," Roxas replied.

"That THING is NOT by boyfriend!"

"Well, for all intensive purposes. It kinda is. That's Sora's inner heartless. And that's what he was trying to keep from getting out."

"Sora had a heartless in him all this time and he didn't tell me!"

"He didn't want to worry you. And he's sorry, really sorry. He's been battling that cursed thing since everyone started to remember him and only when he has to transform does it get a stronger and occasionally come out."

Kairi just stood there, not knowing what to think, looking at the unconscious heartless that was supposed to be the boy she liked.

"If it makes you feel any better," Roxas began feeling Kairi's questionable mood, "the only reason why he's able to keep it suppressed is because of how strong his heart is. I think you know who keeps his heart that way."

Kairi just accepted his words in silence.

Roxas walked over to the heartless, reached inside of its jacket, took out a small velvet covered box, and looked inside.

"Phew, I thought it was ruined," he remarked at the condition of whatever was inside of it. He closed it and gave it to Kairi. "Take it," he said, "it's for you and I'm not sure if he'll remember to give it to you."

And before Kairi could open the box Roxas interrupted her.

"Oh yeah, could you give this to Namine for me please?"

And with that Roxas's lips met Kairi's for what to some might have been considered a somewhat lengthy moment, to Roxas it was nowhere near long enough, and to Kairi it seemed an eternity. To say Kairi was taken aback would be a severe understatement. Hell to say that she might have a heart attack would describe her feeling right now.

"Th-that was m-my first k-ki-" Kairi stuttered in a complete daze.

"Yeah well," Roxas intervened, "don't get used to it. It's not for you." He walked up to the shadowy figure and found what he was looking for in the heartless's clothes. "Hey, Kairi!" Roxas half-yelled to pull Kairi out of the kiss-induced trance as a white light began to engulf both Roxas and the heartless, "he loves you! I just thought you ought to know that!"

* * *

Sora opened his eyes to sight of a white flash of light and what looked like Roxas mouthing _"Good luck!"_ to him before fading away into him. When he pulled himself up however he was greeted with the sight of a beautiful redhead crying over something in her hand.

"Kairi-" but Sora stopped himself when he saw what was in her hand. He groped at his many and numerous pockets and couldn't feel what he was searching for.

Shit.

Kairi had it. It was the small velvet box that he planned to give to her that evening.

"Kairi, that's the uhhh- I mean I meant to- Kairi, what happened here? All I remember is falling asleep in lion form then-"

Then the final interruption of the night occurred in that moment.

Sora suddenly felt something very soft cover his mouth and could only see red hair.

Kairi was kissing him.

Wow. Kairi is kissing him.

HOLY SHIT KAIRI KISSED HIM AND NOW HE'S KISSING BACK!

To Sora it felt like fireworks were exploding all around him. He could suddenly feel the breeze in his hair and the setting sun on his skin. He could hear the grass rustle and the sea roll against the shore. He could sense anything and everything around him in the that one moment.

But he didn't care.

The girl he cared for since before they could write, his best friend that he kept through thick and thin, and the girl that he recently discovered that all the previous years he was unwittingly in love with was his.

To Kairi it was a breath of fresh air. All the times since they realized their feelings for each other, all the awkward hand grabs and suddenly making eye contact only to break it away, all the teasing she got from her friends and family, all of it didn't matter to her.

It didn't matter one bit.

This was the boy that saved worlds, twice. This was the boy that kept her safe at the risk of his life and limb. This was the boy that was the envy of every girl she ever knew. This was the boy that cared for her. This was the boy that loved her.

This is the boy that she loved.

"What happened after I fell asleep?" Sora asked once he managed to regretfully pull away.

"Sora, I've had a long day. Just freaking kiss me," Kairi commanded.

Sora willingly obliged.

However this time, since he knew what was coming, he was ready. He was ready in the sense that he put in every feeling he ever felt for her in that kiss. Every time she would smile and his world was warm, every time she would laugh and he could do nothing but laugh along, just everything that she did to him he put into that kiss.

Kairi broke the kiss to look up at Sora,

"I love you too."

_**Fin.**_


End file.
